Unravelling the role of Pakistan in the 1947 Kashmir invasion

During a UN Security Council meeting addressing the Israel-Gaza situation, India responded to Pakistan’s mention of Kashmir by dismissing it without a formal response, treating it with contempt. India’s choice not to engage on the Kashmir issue during this specific meeting signalled its focus on the Israel-Gaza situation and a reluctance to divert attention. Pakistan’s obsession with Kashmir started as soon as the Muslim League’s machinations got the Indian subcontinent divided into West and East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), which is described in Major General Akbar Khan’s book Raiders in Kashmir, as a braggadocio act. He was a military officer involved in the tribal invasion of Jammu and Kashmir in 1947, which ultimately led to the first war between India and Pakistan over the region. Akbar Khan, with his nom de guerre “General Tariq”, was a prominent figure in the planning and execution of this operation. His actions were instrumental in shaping the early stages of the Kashmir conflict. The myth of the tribal raiders as liberators has been perpetuated by Pakistan, specifically the ISI. According to this myth, the raiders were liberators who came to Kashmir to fight for the rights of the Muslim population who were being persecuted by the Hindu rulers of Jammu. The myth also suggests that the raiders were fulfilling their religious obligation of jihad because Muslims were being killed in communal riots in Jammu in what came to be known as the ‘Ghadar’ or Jammu Massacre. However, the propaganda machinery fails to mention the Mirpur Massacre which occurred simultaneously in what is now Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir in which thousands of Hindus were killed. The raiders were not liberators but invaders who were sent by Pakistan to annex Kashmir. The raiders did not spare the Muslim population and were responsible for the deaths of many innocent people. The raiders were motivated by political and strategic interests rather than religious or humanitarian concerns. During the invasion in 1947, the intruders killed around 11,000 people in Baramulla and destroyed the Mohra power station, which provided electricity to Srinagar; Sheikh Abdullah, the then leader of the Kashmiri resistance against the invasion, described the raiders’ actions at the UN, mentioning the mass killings, abductions, looting, and their proximity to Srinagar. Around 2,000 Frontier tribesmen, including Wazir, Mahsud, Turi, Afridi, Mohmand, and the Malakand Yusufzais, easily defeated the 500-strong Kashmir state army in Muzaffarabad, which had also experienced defections by Muslim soldiers. After their victory, the tribesmen engaged in rampant looting and arson, plundering the state armoury, setting markets on fire, and shooting those who couldn’t recite the Muslim declaration of faith, while many non-Muslim women were enslaved or jumped into the river to escape capture; the aftermath included broken buildings, burnt goods, and numerous dead bodies, prompting the raiders to eventually move on towards the state capital. Unbeknown to them, the Maharaja had by then signed an instrument of accession with India. Between 26 and 30 October, the Indians flew in enough troops to Srinagar to tilt the balance against tribal fighters. The invasion not only traumatised a previously well-settled and peaceful Kashmiri society, but it also set a disastrous pattern for India-Pakistan relations. Major General Akbar Khan, a Pakistani army officer, is believed to have played a significant role in starting the invasion of Kashmir in 1947-48. He is considered as “the architect of (the) philosophy of armed insurrection by aiding non-state actors as state proxies” by military historian Major (Retd) Agha Humayun Amin in his book, The 1947-48 Kashmir War: The War of Lost Opportunities. Pakistan has repeatedly used the strategy of aiding non-state actors as state proxies in Kashmir and Afghanistan. This strategy was first used in the invasion of Kashmir in 1947-48, led by Major General Akbar Khan and Pakistan has repeated this strategy in Kashmir in 1965, during the Kashmir insurgency of 1988-2003, as well as in the Kargil War of 1999. Born in 1912 in the village of Utmanzai in the district of Charsadda, Pakistan, Akbar Khan came from an affluent Pashtun family and was involved in the Pakistani attack on Jammu and Kashmir in October 1947, providing assistance to the Poonch rebels and organising strategies, involving the Pashtun Lashkars. In his own words: “One glance at the map was enough to show that Pakistan’s military security would be seriously jeopardised if Indian troops came to be stationed along Kashmir’s western border… From an economic point of view, the position was equally clear. Our agricultural economy was particularly dependent upon the rivers coming out of Kashmir. The Mangla Headworks were actually in Kashmir and the Marala Headworks were within a mile or so of the border.” The planning and attack took place when the ‘Standstill Agreement’ signed by Maharaja Jari Singh’s government with Pakistan on 12 August 1947, was still in force. Pakistan was planning the invasion while holding parleys with the Maharaja’s govt for accession. The invasion was motivated by strategic considerations, rather than any concern for the ‘wishes of the people’. Its planning began in August, much before the adoption of UN resolutions mandating plebiscite, which has since remained the basis of the Pakistani narrative. Indeed, this was before the Maharaja decided to accede to India on 26 October 1947. The primary reasons for the invasion were to ensure Pakistan’s military security, secure access to water resources from Kashmir’s rivers, and extend its influence on strategically vital northern regions, including links to China. Pakistani involvement in the invasion is evident, and even British authorities were aware of this. Several books and papers have discussed how British officer Major Brown played a significant role in the “liberation struggle” in the Northern Areas. Pakistan’s narrative in international forums and the subsequent developments do not align with the reality on the ground. The invasion failed to capture the Kashmir Valley but led to the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir acceding to India. However, it left Pakistan in possession of a significant portion of Indian territory, the Northern Areas, which have strategic importance. The historical events surrounding the invasion of Jammu and Kashmir in 1947-48, as well as the subsequent conflicts and narratives, are complex and significant. Major General Akbar Khan’s role as the architect of the invasion illustrates the strategic motivations that drove the incursion, transcending any genuine concern for the “wishes of the people”. The myth of the tribal raiders as liberators, perpetuated by Pakistan, contrasts with the research from entities like the European Foundation for South Asian Studies, which suggests a more pragmatic and politically motivated invasion. The invasion had profound consequences for the region, including violence, loss of life, and changes in territorial control. This historical context is essential to understanding Pakistan’s gimmick at the UNSC a few days ago. The author is a writer and an educationist from Srinagar. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. 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